Tens-transfer mechanism



1956 s. c. ELLERBECK TENS-TRANSFER MECHANISM Filed June 29, 1954 EIE- 1 \\\\\\Hm\\\\\ m m 4 8 5 3 2 9 s a I 6 4 8 5 H w 6 4 2 3 FIE-.2

United States Patent TENS-TRANSFER MECHANISM Grant C. Ellerbeck, San Leandro, Calif., assignor to Friden Calculating Machine Co., Inc., a corporation of California Application June 29,1954, Serial No. 440,079

4 Claims. (Cl. 235-138) This invention relates to calculating machines and more particularly to the tens-transfer mechanism of a calculating machine having a Thomas type actuating mechanism.

It is among the objects of the invention to provide, in a calculating machine having a register carriage, Thomas type actuating mechanism driving the register, and tenstransfer levers pivotally mounted on the carriage and actuated by the register to condition the actuator mechanism to effect tens-transfers in the register, means for aligning the tens-transfer levers to pass by the actuating mechanism during carriage shifts without the necessity of resiliently urging the levers to a predetermined home position.

It is a further object of the invention to simplify the construction and reduce the number of parts in a calculating machine and to reduce the production costs of such a machine by reducing the number of manufacturing operations required.

It is also an object of the invention to provide an improved tens-transfer mechanism of the character indicated which requires the addition of no further elements to the mechanism now in use and requires no extensive modification of the presently used mechanism.

Other objects and advantages will become apparent from a consideration of the following descriptionand appended claims in conjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a fragmentary longitudinal cross-sectional view through a calculating machine showing transfer mechanism currently in use in such machines; and

Fig. 2 is a cross-sectional view similar to Fig. 1 showing tens-transfer mechanism illustrative of the present invention.

With continued reference to the drawing, the numeral generally indicates the frame of a calculating machine of well-known construction and the numeral 11 generally indicates a carriage mounted on the rear upper portion of the frame for longitudinal movement of the carriage relative to the frame. The carriage has a hollow carriage frame 12 of substantially rectangular cross-sectional shape provided at its rear side with a longitudinally extending ledge 13 slidably mounted on a rail 14 which extends transversely of the frame 10 and is supported by a transverse frame member 15 positioned at the rear of the frame.

The numeral 16 generally indicates a revolutions counter mechanism of known construction supported by the carriage and projecting forwardly from the front side of the carriage and the numeral 17 indicates a carriage frame of U-cross-sectional shape rigidly secured to the carriage frame and extending along the front portion of the revolutions counter mechanism 16 to support the front ends of the elements of this mechanism. The lower flange 18 of the member 17 rides on a rail 19 which extends transversely of the calculator frame forwardly of the carriage and slidably supports the front side of the carriage. The revolutions 2 ,733,863 Patented Feb. 7, 1956 counter is operated by a suitable mechanism including the actuator 20 which extends transversely of the machine immediately below the front portion of the revolutions counter 16.

Carriage 11 carries a register including a plurality of ordinally arranged dial assemblies, generally indicated at 22, and each including a dial shaft 23 extending perpendicularly through the carriage frame 12 medially of the width of the carriage frame and journalled in the top and bottom walls of the frame, a numbered dial 24 mounted on the shaft 23 immediately above the carriage frame, a bevel gear 25 mounted on the shaft immediately below the carriage frame, a tens-transfer cam 26 mounted on the shaft between the gear 25 and the carriage frame, and a centering gear 27 and a clearing or resetting gear 28 mounted on the shaft within the carriage frame. A spring-pressed ball detent 29 mounted in a socket in the rear portion of the carriage frame 12 cooperates with the centering gear 27 to accurately center the dial assembly at each of the numeral positions on the dial 24 and a resetting or clearing rack 30, mounted in an internal groove in the carriage frame for longitudinal movement cooperates with the mutilated resetting gears 28 to return all of the dial assemblies to their 0 position when the rack is moved longitudinally of the carriage frame, in a manner well known to the art.

Ordinally arranged square shafts 32 are journalled in the machine frame 10 one immediately below each dial shaft 23 and each of these square shafts carries selection gears, as indicated at 33 and 34, which are slidable longitudinally of the corresponding square shafts and are differentially positioned by the keyboard keys of the machine for engagement by actuator drums 35 mounted on the power-driven actuator shafts 36 to rotate the square shafts 32 through angular intervals corresponding in extent to the numeral values selected on the keyboard of the machine, as is well known in Thomas type actuatless mechanisms.

A spool 38 is slidably mounted on each square shaft 32 immediately below the corresponding bevel gear 25 and each spool carries bevel gears 39 and 40 on its front and rear ends, respectively, which bevel gears are meshable with the corresponding bevel gear 25 to turn the associated shaft 23 in one direction or the other depending upon which of the gears 39 or 40 is meshed with the corresponding gear 25. A rockable gate, generally indicated at 42, has a flat cross-member 43 extending below all of the spools 38 and between the front bevel gears 39 and the rear bevel gears 40 and has legs, as indicated at 44, depending one from each end of the cross-member 43 and secured at their lower ends to a rockable shaft 45 which is rocked by operation of the control keys of the machine to selectively mesh the gears 39 or 40 with the corresponding gears 25 to provide for additive or subtractive entry of a selected value into the machine register, as is well known.

A tens-transfer gear 46 is slidably mounted on each square shaft 32 between the selection gears 33 and 34 and the front dial rotating gear 39 and each of these tens-transfer gears 46 has an elongated hub 47, a spur gear on said hub adjacent one end thereof, and a pair of spaced-apart, annular flanges 48 and 49 on said hub adjacent said spur gear.

A plurality of flat tens-transfer levers 50 are pivotally mounted in ordinal arrangement on the forward portion of the underside of the carriage frame 12, each by a pivot pin 51 received in a socket extending upwardly from the bottom surface of the carriage frame and near the front side of this frame. The pins 51 are ordinally arranged along the carriage frame and each pivot pin has at its lower end a reduced end portion secured in an aperture in the corresponding tens-transfer lever 50.

Each tens-transfer lever has a tail portion 52 extending rearwardly from the corresponding pin 51 and bearing against the side of the tens-transfer cam 26 of the same order as the pivot pin 51 and at its front end each lever 50 has a downwardly offset, actuating or abutment element 54 disposed between the paired flanges 48 and 49 of the tens-transfer gear 46 of the order next above the order of the tens-transfer cam 26 which actuates the lever.

Ordinally arranged detenting pins 55 are slidably mounted at their front and rear ends, respectively, in frame members 56 and 57 extending transversely of the machine frame in spaced-apart parallel relationship to each other and each pin 55 is provided near its rear end with a pair of spaced-apart annular grooves which alternatively receive a spring-pressed ball detent 58 mounted in the frame member 57. The ball detents and the actuating springs 59 therefor are mounted in ordinally arranged sockets extending downwardly from the top surface of the member 57, the balls being disposed immediately below the corresponding pins 55 and the corresponding springs being disposed in the bottom portions of the sockets below the balls.

The pins 55 are disposed one below each of the square shafts 32 and each detenting pin 55 carries, between the frame members 56 and 57, a hub 60 having thereon a pair of spaced-apart, annular flanges 61 and 62 which receive between them the flange 49 of the coordinal tenstransfer gear 46 to detent this gear in either its set or operative position or its inoperative position and to return the gear from its operative to its inoperative position.

Each of the tens-transfer levers 50 is effective when rocked by the associated tens-transfer cam 26 to move the tens-transfer gear 46 with which the abutment portion 54 of the lever is engaged forwardly to its tens-transfer position. A pair of tens-transfer tooth members, as indicated at 64 and 65, are mounted in side-by-side relationship on each of the actuator shafts 36 and each of these members has a single tooth engageable with an operatively positioned tens-transfer gear 46 to move the tenstransfer gear one unit rotational space to advance the corresponding dial assembly one unit space in either an additive or a subtractive direction depending upon the meshing relationship of the gears 25, 39 and 40, as explained above. The teeth of the tens-transfer members 64 and 65 are angularly spaced apart and the arrangement is such that one of these elements is effective to actuate the transfer gear on the square shaft at one side of the corresponding actuator shaft 36 while the other element is effective to actuate the tens-transfer gear on the square shaft at the other side of the particular actuator shaft, as is well known to the art.

A restore cam 66 is mounted on each actuator shaft 36 and each restore cam has an elongated, curved tail portion 67 which bears against the forward surface of the transverse frame member 56, these cams being effective when moved over the front ends of the corresponding pins 55 to move the detent pins rearwardly and thereby return the corresponding tens-transfer gears 46 from their operative to their inoperative position.

In the arrangement now in use each tens-transfer lever pivot pin 51 is provided in the rearward side and near the lower end thereof with a rounded recess 70 and the carriage frame 12 is provided with a series of ordinally arranged sockets 71 each extending rearwardly from a corresponding pivot pin receiving socket in the carriage frame with its longitudinal center line perpendicular to the center line of the pin receiving socket. A ball detent 72 is disposed in each socket 71 against the rearward side of the corresponding pivot pin 51 and a compression spring 73 is disposed in each socket 71 between the corresponding ball detent 72 and the closed, rear end of the socket to resiliently urge the ball detent into the recess 70 in the pin 51. The angular movements Cil of the tens-transfer lever pivot pins 51 are of such limited extent that the ball detents 72 do not at any time move completely out of the recesses 70 in the pivot pins and the effect of the spring-pressed ball detents is, therefore, to at all times resiliently urge the tens-transfer levers 50 to a predetermined home or full-cycle position in which the offset abutment formation 54 on the front ends of these levers are in position to pass between the paired flanges 48 and 49 of the several transfer gears 46 when the gears are in retracted position so that the carriage may shift freely relative to the machine frame 19 and the tens-transfer gears carried by the square shafts 32 which are in turn supported by the machine frame.

For a more detailed description of the transfer mechanism, above described, reference may be had to Patent No. 2,273,857, patented February 24, 1942, by C. M. F. Friden, for Calculating Machine, and Patent No. 2,306,247, patented December 22, 1942, by Carl M. Friden and John L. Moody, for Calculating Machine.

In a calculating machine having a twenty-dial register and constructed in the manner described above, the car riage frame 12 would have to be provided with twenty blind holes or wells to provide the sockets 71 for the ball detents 72, twenty ball detents 72 and twenty compression springs 73 would have to be provided and properly installed in the several sockets and each of the twenty pivot pins 51 would have tobe provided with a rounded recess 72. While the above-described arrangement has been found to be entirely successful in operation, it is apparent not only that a large saving in manufacturing costs can be effected if the spring detents and corresponding sockets together with the recesses in the pivot pins could be eliminated, but also that a possibility for error in the operation of the machine would be eliminated if the tens-transfer levers 50 were always positively returned to their predetermined home or fullcycle position.

In the improved arrangement illustrated in Fig. 2 the recesses 72 are omitted from the pivot pins 51' of the tens transfer levers, the sockets 71 are omitted from the carriage frame 12 and the ball detent 72 and springs 73 are also eliminated. In order to retain in the machine the function of the spring-pressed ball detents 72, each transfer gear flange 48 is provided in somewhat modified form, as indicated at 48' in Fig. 2, the modification taking the form of an annular cam surface 75, of truncated conical shape, on the inner side of this flange, that is, the side of the flange 48 opposed to the flange 49. The abutment formation 54 on the front end of the tens-transfer lever 50 is also simplified in that, in the improved arrangement this abutment formation is provided by merely bending the end portion of the transfer lever to a perpendicularly offset position whereas in the previous construction this end portion was not only positioned perpendicular to the plane of the remainder of the lever, but was also twisted through an angle of approximately 90 degrees so that its major width was substantially parallel to the longitudinal center line of the lever. This simplification has also resulted in a reduction in the cost of manufacturing the tens-transfer levers.

With the improved construction, whenever the carriage shifts relative to the frame 10 of the machine and the transfer gears 46 and 47, the abutment formation 54 on any lever 50 that is not in its predetermined home position will engage the cam surface 75 on the first flange 48' by which the abutment formation passes, and this engagement of the abutment formation 54' with the annular cam surface of the flange 48 will rock the lever 50 about its pivot pin 51' to its predetermined position in which the tail end portion 52 of the lever is against the corresponding tens-transfer cam. 26. As the shifting of the carriage will not occur until the tens-transfer has been completed and the cams 26 moved away from their lever-rocking position, shifting of the carriage from a displaced position back to its normal right-hand position, will automatically restore any of the tens-transfer levers 50 which have been rocked to provide a tens-transfer operation prior to such shifting of the carriage. Since the camming action is symmetrical at both sides of each of the tens-transfer gears, shifting of the carriage to the left will also automatically return any displaced tens-transfer lever to its predetermined home position in which the tail end portion thereof is against the adjacent side of the corresponding tens-transfer cam 26.

Since the tens-transfer levers which have been rocked to move the associated transfer gears to operative position are automatically returned to their initial position when the transfer gears are restored to inoperative position by the restore cams 66 of the machine, the cam surfaces 75 on the flanges 48 serve mainly to maintain the undetented transfer levers in position such that the abutment formations 54' on these levers will pass between the paired flanges 48 and 49 as the carriage shifts longitudinally relative to the frame and while the transfer gears are in their retracted or inoperative position.

As the cam surfaces 75 can be provided at no additional expense since the inner surface of the flange 48' has to be machined in any case, it is apparent that the invention provides a construction which can be manufactured at a much lower cost than the arrangement now in use as Well as a construction which provides means for positively restoring the tens-transfer levers to home position rather than relying upon springs for this purpose.

T he invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departing from the spirit or essential characteristics thereof. The present embodiment is, therefore, to be considered in all respects as illustrative and not restrictive, the scope of the invention being indicated by the appended claims rather than by the foregoing description, and all changes which come within the meaning and range of equivalency of the claims are, therefore, intended to be embraced therein.

What is claimed is:

1. In a calculating machine having a frame, a carriage mounted on and longitudinally movable relative to said frame, a register carried by said carriage and including independently rotatable dial assemblies each having a tenstransfer cam, tens-transfer levers pivotally mounted on said carriage one adjacent each dial assembly and each rocked about its pivotal connection with the carriage by the tens-transfer cam of the associated dial assembly when the dial assembly turns from its "0 to its "9 position or from its "9 to its 0 position, dial assembly turning shafts carried by said frame one adjacent each dial assem bly, tens-transfer gears slidably mounted one on each shaft and each having a hub and a pair of spaced-apart annular flanges on the hub thereof receiving therebetween an offset end portion of the tens-transfer lever actuated by the dial assembly of the next lower order, the improvement wherein each tens-transfer lever is freely pivoted on said carriage and one of the flanges of each tens-transfer gear is provided on the side thereof adjacent the associated flange with an annular cam surface adapted to engage the offset end portion of tens-transfer levers and restore said levers to their home or full-cycle position as said carriage moves relative to said shafts.

2. In a calculating machine having a frame, a carriage mounted on and longitudinally movable relative to said frame, a register carried by said carriage and including independently rotatable dial assemblies each having a tenstransfer cam, tens-transfer levers pivotally mounted on said carriage one adjacent each dial assembly and each rocked about its pivotal connection with the carriage by the tens-transfer cam of the associated dial assembly when the dial assembly turns from its "0 to its "9" position or from its "9 to its 0 position, dial assembly turning shafts carried in ordinal arrangement by said frame, tens-transfer gears slidably mounted one on each shaft and each having a hub and a pair of spaced-apart annular flanges on the hub thereof receiving therebetween an offset end portion of the tens-transfer lever actuated by the dial assembly of the next lower order, the improvement wherein each tens-transfer lever is freely pivoted on said carriage and each tens-transfer gear flange most remote from said register is provided on the side thereof facing the register with an annular cam surface of substantially truncated conical shape effective to engage offset end portions of tens-transfer levers as said levers move past said tens-transfer gears incident to longitudinal movements of said carriage relative to said frame and rock said levers to bring the offset end portions thereof into alignment with the spaces between the paired transfer gear flanges.

3. In a calculating machine having a frame, a carriage longitudinally slidable on said frame and transfer gears carried in ordinal arrangement by said frame below said carriage, tens-transfer levers freely pivoted at the bottom of said carriage and having abutment formations engageable with said tens-transfer gears, means on said transfer gears engaging the abutment formations on said tens-transfer levers and rocking said levers to position the abutment formations thereon for passage of said abutment formations past said tens-transfer gears upon longitudinal movement of said carriage relative to said frame.

4. A tens-transfer gear for at Thomas type calculating machine actuator comprising an elongated hub, a spur gear on said hub, a pair of spaced-apart annular flanges on said hub adjacent said spur gear, and an annular cam surface of substantially truncated conical shape on the side of one of said flanges opposed to the other of said flanges.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

